"Son of man," used by our Lord of Himself seventy-nine times, is used by Jehovah ninety one times when addressing Ezekiel.

(1) In the case of our Lord the meaning is clear: it is His racial name as the representative Man in the sense of (Co1 15:45-47). The same thought, implying transcendence of mere Judaism, is involved in the phrase when applied to Ezekiel. Israel had forgotten her mission.

Now, in her captivity, Jehovah will not forsake His people, but He will remind them that they are but a small part of the race for whom He also cares. Hence the emphasis upon the word "man." The Cherubim "had the likeness of a man" (Eze 1:5) and when the prophet beheld the throne of God, he saw "the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (Eze 1:26).